It is not my intent to advocate world policing. If I inferred arbitrary world policing by the US military, then that was unintentional. The US military's policing should be restricted to protecting the life, liberty, and property of Americans.
In a related matter, is it OK to use the military for certain humanitarian missions? The current situation in Burma makes me think of the really great work the US military did in the Asian tsunami a couple of years ago. The US military has a rather unique capability for such things, and it's nice to see all that weaponry and other equipment we've already purchased used for saving lives rather than destroying them. Private sector groups can raise funds and provide resources, but they don't have the logistical and other resources the military has. However, I'm having difficulty reconciling the military's post-tsunami humanitarian mission with libertarian principles. Just wondering if anyone else has been thinking about that and has any ideas how to leverage a government capability without coercion. From: ma ni Sent: Friday, May 09, 2008 7:07 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [Libertarian] Re: Stop the War FOR Terror Bob, Previously you were certainly describing "world policing". Now you are describing self-defense. --------------------------------- I did not say the US should be the world police. Instead, I said, "The role of the US government / military is to serve the interests of Americans, not [others]." In many cases, we can't prevent innocent people from dying. It's just a choice of which people die, ours or theirs. You don't stop the killing by ignoring it. There are a lot of harmful governments out there. Most countries are not like Switzerland. 1. Polls show the Iraqi people are optimistic about their future. It's clear they participate quite enthusiastically in their elections. Do you really think the goal of the US military is to "kill more [Iraqi] people"? The military members I know are not sadistic. 2. Again, people will die. There were wars and murders long before there was a US military. Note that Western Europe is in perhaps its longest period of peace and prosperity, ever since the US military blasted the Nazis and fascists out of existence. We kept the communists out, too. It's not our job to do so, but it shows we are not invading countries just to kill innocent people. All the Americans I know wish the best for people liberated by US forces. I am highly critical of Islamic culture, but I genuinely wish them peace and prosperity to the extent they are at least benign towards Americans. I'm confident there are many -- probably most -- individual Middle East Muslims who would do me no harm. But they should keep their distance from the political and religious leaders who act against American interests. 3. Are you talking about spending the money "better" at the government or individual level? Personally, I'd like the federal government out of everything that's not constitutionally authorized security and justice. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
